Enigmatic Crow
by demonwolfkid
Summary: Series of one shots centered around Matt McGinnis, his friends and family, and their story. Takes place during the series and beyond. Prompts welcome.
1. Chapter 1

1

Matt looked up, his feet hanging off the backend of the couch, his head where a person's butt was normally.

"Hey Terr."

His brother makes a nondescript noise and heads straight for his room.

That's about how it went with his brother.

By the time his mom arrived back home his position had moved just enough so that the blood wasn't rushing to his head, his feet on one arm rest, his head on another.

"Matt, sit up."

"Yeah mom."

His auburn hoodie provides for all the blanked comfort he needed, as he stuffs his hands into the pouch-like pocket, hunched over within himself as he watches the news with half an ear. It was Gotham, the only 'new' thing about the news was what way people had managed to die, not that people had died.

"How was school?"

She's moving around, plastic bags shuffling in the kitchen, and he pauses for three seconds before standing to help.

"Fine."

He doesn't mean to be sharp with her, nor to really cut her out of his life. School was just that. Fine. Nothing new to report about the seventh grade.

He was twelve. His life consisted of videogames, food, and friends.

Or rather, it should. Thing was, he didn't have enough money for videogames or the arcade, he knew better than to waste the little food that they had, and he had a grant total of one friend.

Not that mom needed to know that.

"How'd your competition go?"

He didn't mention that the competition was two weeks ago, nor that none of his teammates had bothered to show up. "Fine. We got fourth, but we can still go to state if someone drops out. Ty's team did really good though, they're going to state."

Which wasn't a lie, technically.

"Hey mom."

"Oh! Terry! Your home."

He turns away at her thrilled tone, shuffling the groceries into their homes as his brother talks to their mother. He's home so rarely that he doesn't blame mom for being surprised. Hell, he's kind of surprised.

He was glad Ty wasn't home. He'd probably have something to say.

"What do you boys want for dinner?"

Well, the options seemed limited to frozen pizza, frozen dinners, or canned foods. Maybe tomorrow he should make spaghetti, or his otherwise infamous mac and cheese.

But Terry was home, so she'd probably try to make something.

"Anything's good mom. Can't miss your delicious cooking," and their mother swoons. She's predictable, he hates to say it, but it's so rare that Terry's home that he lets it go.

It's ten minutes to dinner when he gets the call. It's almost like clockwork, how he rushes off. He notes that his mom only set three plates anyways.

Matt plasters a grin on his face, ribbing her as he changes the channel.

"Who needs him," he jokes, "We can marathon the New Housewives of Beverly Hills."

She grins, but he's not fooled.


	2. Chapter 2

2

"What, _McGiniss?"_

The ten-year-old winces. He recognizes that tone. That tone meant that this teacher had dealt with his brother.

Great.

Mr. Jeffers was a old white man, big around the gut, yet he still fancied himself a coach of some sort. Personally, the boy doubted that the man was even qualified to teach the AP History course he was assigned.

He'd skipped fourth grade. He was the youngest kid in his grade, and yet not the dorky younger kid, thanks to an early growth spurt and his natural wit. Fifth grade had been a breeze, and he'd been looking forward to middle school. It wasn't his peers that were the problem.

No, like usual, it was his brother.

It hadn't been a problem up to this point, but he remembered now that middle school was when his brother had first started to act out.

Mom didn't mention it outright. She didn't actually _like_ to talk about the past, but it wasn't like it was a huge secret. He'd been four, and it had been that year that they'd broken up.

"Nothing Mr. Jeffers. Sorry."

Ty frowns to his side, his chin hardening with discontent, but Matt sends him a warning glance.

He was always apologizing for things that weren't his fault, but he didn't care that much. He could deal with it. The last thing he needed was to get sent to the principal's office. His mom didn't need the stress of another smartass kid.


	3. Chapter 3

3

He'd met Ty a little after the first time he'd been kidnapped.

He was in his third grade class, or at least, he had been in May.

May was like, the worst time to be transferred. You only had a month more of classes, and by then things were pretty set in stone. Who sat where, who was friends with whom.

Ty hadn't been a great student either. He was too damn stubborn, even at the age of eight. Maybe, because he was eight. His mom was a single mother, like Matt's, and they'd bonded over that once they'd started hanging out.

It was the last project of the semester that brought the two unlikely friends together. Matt had always been the smart kid of his class, but also a bit of a lazy kid. The teacher, one Mrs. Lindinski, had grouped up students, and he'd gotten assigned to work with Ty, the new kid.

The project required some work outside of class, so they'd made arrangements to work together after school at the library.

He hadn't said that they couldn't go to his house, because his mom worked late on weekdays and that she didn't trust anyone in their house. Ty didn't say that his mom also worked late, or that her current boyfriend would probably be home.

He'd noticed, by that time, that Ty never ate at the cafeteria. That, in itself, wasn't too strange. They were in Gotham, and a lot of the time kids didn't have enough money for food. There was a system to sign up for free lunches, but a lot of the time the parents wouldn't sign up for it, whether because they were too proud or because they didn't care about their kids, it was debatable, but the end result was the same.

So after school he'd stopped by the vending machine, and bought some chips and crackers, bringing them with him.

Ty was stubborn though, and he had seen the handouts as insulting.

Matt was stubborn in his own right, and had left first, leaving he food behind after eating the minimal amount.

The next day Matt sat next to Ty at lunch, and the dark skinned boy stubbornly ignored him.

Matt poured his milk down his shirt.

Ty threw Matt's mashed potatoes at him in retaliation.

He'd gotten grounded for two months (grounded being a relative term, considering that his mom had to be home to effectively ground him) but he'd gained a friend.


	4. Chapter 4

4

Ty had dropped out of school by the time Matt entered middle school. Early, but not totally surprising in Gotham. Matt himself didn't realize it till after the first week of school.

It'd been hard to maintain their friendship the year before. Ty was older than him, but had been held back early on. Matt was younger, but was in a higher grade.

They had agreed over the summer though, to meet at the corner by the school to at least hang out after school. Matt had run late the first day, and Ty hadn't been there for the rest of the week.

They'd never been to each other's houses. Matt's mom had signed him up for some afterschool program at the community center that he went to on a semi-consistent rate. It was over packed and understaffed, so it wasn't like it mattered too much.

Most days, they went to the park, or sometimes, ran through the streets.

Ty had been the one to show him free running. They'd turned it into a game, planning out their routes and testing their limits. He was ten, Ty was eleven,

He called Max, because Max was always plugged into the network. She gave him Ty's address on account of the fact that she owed him one, and Matt was more than capable of dishing out some blackmail should he need to.

At one point, Gotham had had Crime Alley, now Gotham had the Lower City. Gotham, like Metropolis had continued growing outwards, but eventually it was apparent that it was no longer convenient to keep going outwards. The creation of sky-roads, expressways, and the air-rail system, as well as the new architectural systems that allowed for an increased weight to strength ratio, had allowed for the city to become new, on the upper levels. The lower levels remained much the same, allowing crime to foster.

Not that crime hadn't fostered in the Upper City, but he digressed.

He took a train to the old subway, and then the subway to a bus station. Then he traveled from the bus to a convenience store, where he was pretty sure he talked to a hooker, and asked for directions to Ty's apartment.

Wouldn't be the first time.

He wondered how Ty event went to his school, what with the distance an all. (Ty would later say that he'd enrolled himself in school, and he had lied about his address in order to get into a better school than those in the Lower City)

He saw Ty's legs first, his bright orange kicks hanging down from the roof. He forwent the inner trapings of the apartment building, climbing up the old fire escape to his friend.

"Sup?"

"Sup." He returned, digging in his backpack and offering his friend a stick of gum. Ty took it, chewing on it slowly.

"Damn am I hungry," he laughs, and Matt frowns. Ty can usually scrounge up something.

"Want to run?"

"Sure."

Ty doesn't ask how he found him. His quiet acceptance spoke for itself.

Matt doesn't ask what happened. It was part of their unspoken agreement. Neither of them has ever been particularly inclined to sharing.

They clamber down to the ground level, and Matt lets Ty take the lead. They run for an hour, before stopping and taking a train uptown a bit.

"Want to crash at my place?"

"Yeah. Thanks."


	5. Chapter 5

5

Matt wasn't uninterested in girls; he just didn't know how to deal with them.

He was pretty popular. In the slightly geekish kind of way, but still, popular. He had plenty of friends that were girls, in fact, they made up the biggest percentage of his friend group.

"You should hit that."

 _That_ , was his friend Amanda.

"She likes Johnson."

"Johnson's a poser, you should hit that."

Ty never had any problem with the female half of their species, but neither was he particularly tactful. He wasn't as much of a player as he liked to make himself out to be, but still, just by sticking with him Matt had had quite a few potential relationships ruined.

"Come on. Let's just go."

Ty fell into step beside him, swinging an arm over the boy's shoulders.

"Coward."

"Dick."

"I'm wounded." He clutches at his chest, and Matt slugs him in the arm.

"Shut up!"

"Shut up," Ty mocks.

"Ty!" Matt groans, and Ty grins.

"Don't worry about Kim," he says, jogging to catch up with the younger boy. "You can do better."

"That's what you said about Penny."

"Fuck 'em. Bro's before hoes, ya know?"

"Your logic is infallible," he rolls his eyes, but he's grinning.


	6. Chapter 6

6

His mom hadn't said anything when she found Ty asleep on her couch.

She hadn't said anything when Ty started eating dinner with them.

She hadn't even said anything when it became apparent that Ty wasn't going home.

Instead, she started buying extra food, and put her name down on Ty's contact at the center and at school. The second month he stayed with them, the two came home to find a bunkbed in what would come to be known as their room.

When he started missing school and coming back to the apartment with bruises and injuries that he refused to explain, she petitioned the court for custody without them knowing.

For Ty's thirteenth birthday, he became a horary member of the McGinnis family.

Matt had always loved his mother, had always known that his mom was the best sort of people. The world had always given her a crap shoot, but she never stopped fighting for what was right.

He couldn't really remember his dad. Ty didn't _want_ to remember his, and his own mom had done what she could, but she was too broken, too far gone, to ever do anything.

For them, Mary McGinnis was the only parent they ever needed.


	7. Chapter 7

7

Terry didn't really have an opinion on Ty, but he hadn't liked him staying with them.

Matt didn't really care. Terry was hardly home anyways.

Terry was eight years older than him. He was in college, working full time for Mr. Wayne. He may still sleep at the apartment, but it was apparent that he didn't _live_ there.

Ty had been staying with them for roughly two weeks by the time he and Terry had run into each other.

That time it hadn't been bad. Terry had assumed that he was just sleeping over. They hadn't bothered to correct him, because at that point it was still up in the air on whether or not Ty _was_ staying.

The next time he met Ty was in a series of three days. On the third day, he'd had an argument with their mom.

The boys didn't see him for a week after that. After that same a series of brief hellos and passing glances

The next time they really talked was when Matt's mom surprised them with the bunk bed. Terry had been setting it up when they came home.

"Don't screw this up," he'd warned Ty, and Matt had glared at him for threatening his friend.

Terry maintained that Ty was from a rought part of Gotham.

Matt retorted that Terry had been in a gang, he had no room to talk.

Terry returned that he didn't want Matt to end up like him.

He couldn't really say anything to that. The two brother hadn't ever been super close, but there were times where he was reminded that they were indeed brothers.


	8. Chapter 8

8

Matt and Ty didn't actually hang out at school.

His best friend was a girl named Dani. They'd originally been in the same grade. She'd skipped first grade, he'd skipped fourth, so now they were in the same grade again.

Dani was pretty kick ass. Lazy as all hell when it came to school, but kick ass.

She was one of those kids that, once it hit middle school, she ceased to care.

They were neighbors, of a sort. They lived in the same building, and had walked to school every day together since they were old enough to walk to school.

Dani was something of a punk-rocker by the time middle school hit. Asian in descent, she embraced the goth-punk lifestyle, but not overly so. Grey t-shirt, black leather jacket, skinny jeans. Sarcasm ruled, and if you couldn't handle it, she didn't much care.

She was one of those kids that had friends in all the social circles, but only a few in each. Popular in her own circles, as she liked to say.

She was probably the only reason he hadn't ended up being bullied in elementary school. She'd stood up for him, but in the subtle sort of way. It was after his dad died, when he'd fallen into a sort of depression.

Kids never quite knew how to deal with stuff like that, and a lot of the other boys had started to give him grief.

She'd hung out with him, invited him to play with her, and over all, made him kind of forget about his sorrows. At the time she'd been a fourth grader, him a third, so the fact that he was friends with a fourth grader made him cool, by the school yard rules.


	9. Chapter 9

9

Matt had only ever talked to Mr. Wayne a total of three times by the time he'd entered middle school. He just knew him as the old man that Terry worked for.

He'd been bitter at first, that Terry's job took up so much of his time. By now, the anger had faded into uncaring acceptance with slight tones of annoyance.

All the same, he'd never particularly cared for Mr. Wayne. He'd always been slightly off putting. Too amiable for an old man. He made the hair on the back of his neck stand on end, but he could never quite put his finger on what exactly he didn't like about him.

"How are you, Matthew?"

Just freaking dandy.

"Good. Just deal with school and stuff…"

"I heard a friend of yours has been staying over lately."

Matt smiles amiably. Really Terry?

"He's just having some trouble at home. Nothing serious."

Mr. Wayne hums a noncommittal noise, and finally, _finally,_ Terry reappears from his room, wearing a suite.

"Sorry Mr. Wayne. Let's go," he brushes past without so much as a nod, and Mr. Wayne stands.

"It was good talking to you, Matthew. We should do it more often."

Matt nods, his smile frozen on his face as he shakes the guy's hand.

 _Not on your live, Wayne._


	10. Chapter 10

10

Not many people knew what Mary McGinnis did.

Her sons were even a bit fuzzy on it. They knew she was an astronomer, a scientist, and one of the leading one's in her field.

Mary worked at Astro-Tech. Her late ex-husband had been a research scientist at Wayne-Powers. Her hours were from six-to-seven on a good day. She was over worked, and underpaid, despite being a leading researcher in her field.

What people didn't know was that she'd voluntarily taken two pay cuts so that her coworkers didn't have to. That even during her divorce, she'd showed up with a smile to work every day. That every weekend she volunteered at the local soup kitchen and even when money was tight she always managed to make a donation to the local homeless shelter.

She wasn't overtly religious. She'd never even had a god-phase, but neither had she ever had a rebellious phase.

Mary McGinnis just tried to do what was right. She was the quiet sort, not like her eldest son, but more like her younger son. She didn't ask for recognition, but neither did she shy away from it.


	11. Chapter 11

11

Terry knew that his relationship with matt wasn't exactly normal.

He wondered sometimes, if his brother even thought of him as a brother.

He was never home, a problem he had tried to rectify many times, and every time had failed.

He knew now to no longer make promises, though he also knew that his brother no longer believed his promises.

Their relationship wasn't bad, per say. They didn't fight, they even engaged in what some would call 'playful bickering' whenever time allowed, but something was missing.

He wasn't sure when he realized it, but it was a long time ago.

It was even more apparent when faced with his brother's best friend-turned-brother Ty.

Tyrell Johnson. His mom, a crack addict that had moved from Dakota to Gotham to escape her abusive ex-boyfriend. She'd OD'd a year after they'd moved to Gotham. The then eleven-year-old had lived with them ever since.

A year later his genetic done had found him. He'd kept it quiet for a while, but he'd eventually been found out by no other than his mother.

Mary had done what none of them had expected, and petitioned for custody with the help of Bruce.

He was still a little annoyed that Bruce had done so behind his back, but as the old man pointed out, he didn't report to him. He hadn't approved. It was bad enough the kid was living with them, but by taking custody his mom was legally in charge of him. Legally obligated to provide for a child that wasn't hers.

He was worried also, that Stewart Johnson would attack his family because they had taken in his son. It didn't take much to get the man arrested. Drug trafficking and other illegal activities made it easy enough, but people in the underworld had a habit of reappearing in the worst sort of ways.

Ty, as far as he could tell, wasn't a bad kid. He wasn't great a school, but few with a history like his really were. He didn't spend too much time in the principal's office or in detention, in fact, the only infractions he had on his record were for loitering and trespassing, which, considering, were low level crimes.

When he asked Bruce to look into the kid, he'd refused, saying, 'Do it yourself.'

Max had likewise refused, saying he should, 'Handle his insecurities accordingly.'


	12. Chapter 12

The first time he'd made a spark, he was terrified.

Ty liked living under the radar. His mom, drug addict though she might be, had always done the best by him. Had always tried her best. She'd give him money, always thirty bucks a week. She'd always manage at least that much.

Steven would pop up every few months. Usually dangerous, usually drunk. He'd learned early to hide from him. His birth dad, his genetic donor, or so he'd thought.

When he was eleven, he'd made his first spark.

He hadn't understood it. The jolt of electricity that coursed through his fingers.

He didn't mention it, for both fear and because he knew about metas. Metas weren't welcome in Gotham.

His mom found out a week before she over dosed. She'd cried, and hugged him, and told him the truth.

It wasn't that she'd been hiding it, not really. She'd never been sure.

His dad wasn't Steven Johnson; his dad was Jean Hawkins. Static Shock's son.

 _Static Shock's son._

FREAKING SURGE WAS HIS FATHER!

Of course, his mom had overdosed shortly after, and it wasn't like hero's exactly kept their blood on record. He had no way of confirming or denying her claim. All he had, was his powers.

Matt knew he had a secret, but he'd never asked. It was part of their unspoken rule.

(Eventually, he would tell his brother. It's on Matt's thirteenth birthday, shortly after his own. It's also the day that Charge was born.)

Jean Hawkins. She had his name. So who was Static? Some old guy, with a butt load of dreads and a son named Jean, who wore cornrows in his hair. That wasn't hard to find. Not at all.


	13. Chapter 13

Dani had never hero worshipped.

She thought they were cool, but in that otherworldly, unrealistic sort of way. Like, how would they handle school, or friends, or work?

It wasn't realistic, but I was _real_.

She's brought into the fold at fifteen, but she'd guessed early on

They'd been doing it since they were thirteen. Charge was a hero, but he stuck to the Lower City, whereas Batman patrolled the whole city Charge was a bit of an urban legend. He tended to stay out of the spotlight. Sometimes, he did so by throwing Batman _into_ the spotlight.

It was a wonder that Batman didn't particularly like the other hero.

She'd noticed, of course, that her two friends had come in with more bumps and bruises than usual. At first it was only Ty, but Matt had the occasional scrape and bruise. She'd assumed that it was problems with Ty's birth dad, or that the two had gotten into the habit of taking their playful wrestling a bit too far.

It figured that he was Crow. The little seen and lesser known partner of Charge.

Matt, she found, hated actually going out into the field. He claimed that only overzealous fools would _like_ the adrenaline rush that came with risking one's life in gunfire, but somehow she doubted that he disliked it as much has he said he did. Still, he stayed in their base of operations most days, only venturing out if Charge with in-between a rock and a hard place.

Matt managed to balance the two pretty well, and Ty's grades were already in the dumpster, so it wasn't like teachers noticed it that much, but she was their best friend.

Matt knew she knew, but he never said anything to her. It was kind of a game, to see who would break first. She'd cover for them, and he'd make a small, side comment about it.

She was brought into the fold on the same mission that solidified their places in Gotham lore. Batman approved of them, and that was good enough for them.


End file.
